


Stranded

by CaityLikesWriting



Category: Furry - Fandom
Genre: Alien Planet, Anthro, Furries, Furry, Human Pet, Science Fiction, alien - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-05
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2018-07-21 15:47:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7393597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaityLikesWriting/pseuds/CaityLikesWriting
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Erek Crispin is sent on a mission for Space Exploration, only to be sucked into a black hole that transports him into a different universe, and crash-lands onto a planet that is dominated by furries, or anthros, and humans are domestic pets. With no way to return to earth, Erek is forced to accept his new home - and his new role.</p>
<p>(Title pending)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Erek Crispin cracked his neck and took a deep breath, letting it out and closing his eyes. He was being sent on a space exploration mission. Their space ships were more advanced now, and allowed for going further into the black abyss. The one place they had never been was outside of their Galaxy, so he would be the first. A whopping 25 years old, where most people his age were just being allowed to rent a car, he was going to be the first person to ever go beyond the Milky Way. They estimated that he would be roughly 38 when he returned.  
Thirteen years. He had been preparing since he was sixteen, when he graduated high school early and gone to college. He'd graduated there early, too, and had enrolled in the NASA program when he was 20. Hed been to the moon, and that had been cool.  
For all about twenty minutes.  
He'd grown bored of it rather quickly, and had wanted to go deeper. Truth be told, going to the moon was a training exercise nowadays. They'd told him of a highly experimental trial they were working on, but he'd need years to prepare for it. He'd agreed in a heartbeat.  
Now Erek sat in the pilots seat of a one-seater. He was going alone because there was no one else qualified to do this. They'd packed him with enough food to last the entire trip, he had training in setting up the space garden to grow fruit and vegetables, and he had more water than he could handle. He had over four million songs, thousands of movies, and about six billion ebooks. He would never be bored on this station.  
He had no family to hold him back. His parents had died before he graduated high school. In today's society, it was normal for a sixteen year old to live alone, so he had found a job and gotten an apartment. He had no friends, either. He hadn't had time for them. No girlfriend, either. With his space training, he hadn't had time to maintain any relationships, really. He'd had a few flings. Erek was a good-looking guy, and even geniuses had needs. He'd had some fun with a few colleagues on the base, but nothing serious. No one had time for relationships.  
There was nothing holding him back from this once-in-a-lifetime mission.  
“Crispin, we’re all ready for ya, over.” Command control came over the line.  
“Roger, engaging ignition.” Erek replied.  
The hum of the engine calmed him. He'd been preparing for this day, but had never thought it would actually come. He was nervous.  
Thirteen years.  
“Crispin, this is general Janoss. Last call. If you want to back out, now is the time to say. No one will think lesser of you.”  
Thirteen years.  
“Negative, general. Disconnecting bridge.” Erek replied.  
“Best of luck to you.” Janoss said.  
“Airlock engaged.”  
“Preparing to launch.” Command control announced.  
The spaceship rumbled, ready for action. Today's ships took off much like jets. Vertical just had too many issues, it was better to go horizontal and then vertical once you got momentum.  
“Launching, in ten….nine...eight….”  
Erek took another breath, closing his eyes.  
“Seven...six…”  
He opened his eyes and double-checked his harness, ensuring it was fastened correctly.  
“Five….four…”  
He grabbed hold of the steering and shifted, making sure he was comfortable, and took one last breath.  
“Three...two…”  
Erek grabbed the launch lever, waiting…  
“One. Engage launch.”  
He slowly drew the lever backward, gaining speed quickly. 80mph...100mph….130mph… faster, faster, until the lever was completely drawn back and he could only gain more speed. Soon he hit 200mph and pulled the steering back, lifting into the air. Once he hit 280mph, and was at least six miles in the air, he flipped the required switches, closing the vents and opening the back panel, bringing the landing gear up and lowering the shade on the glass. “Engaging hyperdrive.” He said into his headset, pressing the red and then orange button, and grabbing the other lever. He waited until the orange button turned green, and then punched the lever back. Three seconds later, he was racing through the atmosphere at supersonic speed.  
“So long, boys.” He said with a smirk. “See you in thirteen years.”  
“Have a good trip, Erek.” Command control replied. It would be the last time anyone else said his name for more than a decade. 

Eight months later, Erek was at the edge of the Milky Way. He was holding a bottle of water and eating a bag of food when he got the alert that he was approaching the coordinates he had set the autopilot for. He quickly scarfed down the food and grabbed his water, then ran to the pilots room. He had engaged the gravity as soon as he was a comfortable distance from the planets. He sat in his seat and put the water in the slot next to him and fastened a quick seatbelt, instead of the full harness. When he was set, he disengaged autopilot and grabbed the steering.  
“Now exiting Milky Way Galaxy.” A female robotic voice sounded.  
“Thank you, computer wife.” Erek called back.  
He grinned wide, seeing space beyond. He reached over and pressed a button, setting a recording up. “Day 246, I am now exiting the Milky Way Galaxy.” The recordings automatically fed back to command control every twenty four hours, but he had the option to send them at will, for urgent news. Every three days he was given new messages. Or he would be, if he had any friends or family. He got a message from a few of his colleagues every few weeks. Wanting to get his mind off his loneliness, he continued speaking to the recording. “The amount of stars is just...incomparable. It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.”  
“Approaching asteroid field.”  
“There seems to be a storm up ahead.” Erek said to the recording. The station groaned and shook. “Strapping fully in, the asteroids are getting bigger.” He punched a button on the dash that automatically harnessed him in, snugly. “I am fully strapped in and- Jesus!” He yanked the steering to the side, just narrowly dodging an asteroid. “And I am putting my concentration on steering until I'm clear.”  
He stopped talking and dodged asteroid after asteroid, for what seemed like an hour. After much concentration and some sweating, it started to lighten up.  
“Alright, I think I'm almost out of the asteroid field, they're getting smaller and fewer in number. I see...some kind of storm… I'm going to try to avoid it-”  
“Warning! Warning! Black hole ahead.”  
Erek’s blood ran cold. “Initiating evasive maneuvers, I'm turning the ship around. I'm not yet-”  
“Warning! Warning! Caught in gravitational pull!”  
“Son of a bitch!” Erek shouted, dropping formality.  
“Warning! Black hole approaching! Approximately ten minutes until black hole arrives.”  
Ereks eyes popped open. He slammed his fist down onto the dash. There was nothing he could do. If he engaged hyperdrive he would burn himself up and destroy all evidence of what happened to him. Erek was lost.  
“My name is Erek Crispin.” He said after a long while. “I was born on October 30th, 2084. I am twenty six years old. I am about to be swallowed by a black hole, located just outside the Milky Way Galaxy. Do not, I repeat, do not send anymore people out here. I thank everyone for giving me the chance to go where no man has gone before, and now I am giving my life to space. I now have eight minutes to change into my space suit and get back here before I'm lost forever. Signing off...for the last time.”  
He pressed the button to send the recording to command control. They wouldn't get it for another six hours. He let out a breath, closing his eyes and lying his head back against the seat.  
“Warning! Black hole arriving in five minutes.”  
It took Erek three minutes to get his suit on, two if he rushed. He slammed the button to release his harness and bolted down the station to the hook where his suit hung, running as fast as his legs could take him. He pulled his suit on, making sure it was air-tight, and yanked on his mask. Space suits had come a long way, and looked more like white military armor now. They kept the wearer warm or cool, depending on the surrounding temperature, and the mask could keep a person breathing for up to seventy-two hours. He shoved a few devices, equipment and water into a bag and harnessed the bag onto him, and then bolted down the station again, slamming himself into the seat. He fastened the harness and lay his head back again.  
And waited.  
“Warning! Black hole arriving in one minute.”  
“Thank you, computer wife.” He whispered, watching the great expanse of the black hole draw nearer and nearer. His future was unclear. Would he burn up? Would he be transported across time? Was he going into another dimension? Would he even survive? Erek had no idea.  
The black hole swallowed him. He was pulled and stretched, his ship crushed inwards a bit, the window cracking. He was shook about, the metal groaning. He engaged the mask before it was too late, and forced himself to suck in a gulp of air. He felt immense pressure on his body as the nose of the ship was crushed completely. He got the feeling he was going at speeds he couldn't even fathom. And just as quickly as it started, it was over.  
The black hole spit him out, and he was sent spiraling through space. None of his instruments were working, his technology was shot, even the lights were off. In his spiraling, he thought he spied blue and green. Was that a planet?  
He was probably seeing things. He closed his eyes to keep from throwing up. It was dark. After about twenty minutes, he heard a rumbling, and a sense of motion. He opened his eyes to find himself hurdling towards...a planet?!  
The planet was green and blue, which meant vegetation and water. It wasn't earth, though. He'd never seen continents shaped like that. There was another planet with sustainable life?! He would have marveled at how amazing that was if he hadn't broken through the sound barrier just then, his spaceship catching fire. He held on tight, bracing himself for crash landing. He was headed towards land. That was good, he couldn't survive in water. Especially since he didn't know what was in that water.  
After what he guessed was fifteen minutes of falling, he crashed into the earth below. He skidded for a long while. The back of his ship was ripped from the pilots room, the sounds of metal, dirt and wood crunching becoming deafeningly loud. A tree took off the nose of the ship, along with the roof. The glass shattered, and he saw what could only be death heading straight for him. A giant tree with a trunk that could be no less than a hundred and fifty feet in circumference lie straight in his path. He stared at it as it rushed toward him. He caught a flash of bark and the clattering sound of metal before it all went black.

Rain. Erek felt rain on his skin. He cracked open his eyes and saw trees, metal and leaves. He groaned and wheezed, slowly bringing his arm up. Good, he still had an arm, and a hand. His face was pressed into the dirt, which was turning into mud. His mask was still on, which was great. He didn't know if he'd be able to breathe the oxygen in the atmosphere. He tried to pick himself up but found he was still strapped to the chair. I'm alive...but I want to die. Slowly, so slowly, he unbuckled himself and the bottom half of his body fell to the ground. He groaned. He didn't think anything was broken, which was a miracle.  
Erek pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, and then onto his knees, resting back on his heels and looking at the sky. Water droplets covered his mask and washed off some of the mud. He looked around and found himself about twenty yards away from the pilots room of the ship, which was completely wrapped around that giant tree. How in the fuck was he alive right now?  
He pulled off his bag and looked inside. Destroyed equipment, only one working device, but the bottles of water were intact. Good. No food, however.  
He dumped the equipment and devices out of his bag. There was only one that worked, and it was to tell him if the surrounding air was toxic or safe to breathe. Might as well get this over with. He turned it on. It read, and then started computing. Thirty seconds later, he got a yellow light. Safe, but foreign. Which meant he could breathe it, but it would take a while for his lungs to adjust. Perfect.  
Erek tossed the device away and grabbed his bag, fastening to himself once again. He had no idea how long he'd been out. All he knew was that the sun had been setting when he'd crashed, and now it was rising. He didn't know how many hours were in a day on this planet, nor what kind of life was on it. The pilots room was stocked with survival gear and first-aid kits in case a crash happened. Granted, it was meant for crashing on earth or an asteroid, but it would have to do.  
He stood, and after wobbling a bit, found his footing and stumbled over to the hunk of metal. Thank fucking God. The survival kit was there....but it was broken. All he found was a hunting knife, a blanket and a few more bottles of water. Fuck. He strapped the knife holster to his forearm and stuffed the water and blanket into his bag, which, thankfully, was waterproof. Erek looked over the wreckage.  
I'm not going home. There was no possible way to ever fix this. It was just scrap metal at this point. He faced the expanse of jungle. This was his home now. He was alive. He needed to find food and materials for shelter if he wanted to stay that way. With one last glance over the wreckage, Erek trekked into the jungle. 

Twenty four hours. The day cycle was the same as earth. Erek sat high up in a tree, taking short, shallow breaths. He was attempting to train his lungs to get used to the air. He only had forty one hours of oxygen left in his mask. He lie back against the tree, forcing himself to take a deep breath. He was getting better. He could breathe for a bit longer than he could yesterday. His belly rumbled, air going through his intestines. He needed to find food, but he was afraid to trek the woods at night.  
He'd spied strange predators that lurked about on the jungle floor at night, along with snakes so big he couldn't even comprehend. Thankfully, they tended to stick to the river, and if they were in trees, it was low to the ground. He felt like he was being stalked. He looked to his left and spied a round shape hanging from the tree. Was it fruit?  
He hung his mask on a nearby branch and monkey-barred it across the branches to the piece of fruit. Erek thanked all of those grueling hours of physical training he'd put himself through before his space trip. He was muscular, and very physically fit. He'd known he wouldn't have much time for working out on his trip, and had wanted to bulk up as much as possible. The work had paid off. Coupled with his pitch-black hair and blue eyes, Erek considered himself quite the looker. He held himself with one hand and grabbed the piece of fruit with the other.  
Stuffing the stem in his mouth, he swung himself back to his resting branch.  
By the time he got back, he was wheezing again, but wanted to force himself to breathe this air. He'd never get used to it if he kept nursing himself. Sitting down and leaning his back against the trunk, he examined the fruit. It was purple with pink tints to it. Looking up, he spied hundreds more littered throughout the tree. He only hoped it was safe to eat. Deciding it was worth the chance, Erek bit into the fruit. It was soft, and juicy, and tasted mango laced with honey and coconut. He scarfed down the fruit, throwing the core away. It was so delicious. He lie back, his belly no longer grumbling, and allowed himself to fall asleep. 

A week had gone by. Erek had long since ditched his suit and mask. He still had trouble breathing, but he was getting there. He trekked through the jungle in only a black t-shirt - now a tank-top - and black jeans. He'd lost his boots. He was barefoot, running for his life, and hungry. He'd run out of water, his pack had been shredded, and he was disoriented. He figured his body was rejecting the fruit he'd been eating. He stumbled for the thousandth time, falling into the mud. He was absolutely filthy, covered head to toe in dirt and grime. Erek pushed himself up and kept going. He didn't know what he was looking for anymore.  
He heard a snapping of twigs and voices. He couldn't make out the words, but it was definitely speech. Erek ran towards the sound. He couldn't think straight, could barely walk straight. He called out, and stumbled yet again, but caught himself and continued running. He came across the source of the voices-  
What the fresh hell?  
He rubbed his eyes, clearly not seeing this correctly. It was...humanoid creatures, walking upright, wearing clothes, and using speech, but… They looked like…  
Dogs.  
It was a white German shepherd, wearing cargo shorts, a red t-shirt and hiking boots, clearly a male, and a Doberman, wearing a sports bra, hiking shorts and combat boots, carrying a walking stick, and obviously female if the large breasts were anything to go by. They stood on two legs, and were looking at him in shock and confusion as they spoke to each other in a weird language. They were fucking tall, probably towering over him. The Doberman reached into her bag and pulled out a plastic Baggie. She opened it and Erek caught the smell of dried meat spices.  
Jerky?  
She crouched down and held it out towards Erek, shaking it a bit and speaking with a soft tone.  
Erek was dizzy, dehydrated, disoriented, and could barely breathe. Surely that's the reason he crossed the distance between them and gingerly took the jerky. Up close, the weird creatures dwarfed him. They had to be at least eight feet tall. They talked to each other as the Doberman fed Erek another piece of jerky. He scarfed it down, chewing roughly. When he had swallowed all of it, his stomach did a flip, and he suddenly felt like he was going to-  
He hunched over and vomited, expelling absolutely everything from his stomach, including the fruit. He vomited again and again, until he was dry-heaving. He suddenly couldn't catch his breath, his lungs apparently deciding to give up trying to work. He panted, wheezing, his head feeling like it was going to explode. Next thing he knew, he was on the ground. Once again, the world went black. The last thing he saw was the forest shift as he was raised into the air.


	2. Chapter 2

Erek was numbly aware that he was moving. He heard a hum of an engine, the sound soothing. His face was against something soft. Not the bark of a tree branch. Some kind of cloth. He opened his eyes and was greeted with the sight of the floor of a car. He was in a car?   
He rolled onto his back and saw the rear window. He was in the trunk of some kind of jeep or blazer. His head was pounding, and his stomach hurt. He didn't think he was going to vomit again, thank god, but he was painfully aware of how empty his stomach was.  
He figured he'd vomited because his digestive system was having problems with the foreign food. It would explain a lot. The strange spices in the jerky must have set him off-  
Those creatures.   
Erek bolted upright, looking toward the front of the car. The hole between the trunk and back seat was covered with a grate. The car was huge, twice the size of anything he'd ever seen. Beyond the bars, The Doberman sat in the passenger's seat, and the white German shepherd was driving. They were talking, in that weird language.   
Where are they taking me? He attempted to pull the grate down, but it was bolted in place. Fuck! He turned to trunk door, looking for any kind of inside latch. Nothing. He was completely caged. All he could do was wait.   
Erek crouched in a corner, drawing his legs up close and wrapping his arms around them. Was he to be some kind of meal? A trophy? A scientific test subject?   
He laid his head down onto his knees, attempting to calm himself. He'd faced death hundreds of times this week, and survived it all. It was not going to end here. They opened that door, he would attack, and then run. 

Hours passed.The sun was going down. On Earth, it would be roughly six o'clock. He knew from the window that they were in some kind of city. Everything was so similar to earth, it was surreal. There were traffic lights, stores, other cars. He'd braved a peek out the side window and had seen even more two-legged animals walking around. And not just dogs. There were cats, bears, foxes, horses, deer, even a few lizards here and there. All of the technology was just like earth, except everything was bigger. These animal people were tall, very tall.   
As they drove down a street, stopping at a light, he spotted something that made his blood run cold.   
It was a wolf-looking animal person, holding a leash. On that leash, was a human, connected by a collar. He was walking in circles around the wolf, who was talking to a lion. The man grabbed at the wolfs clothes, looking impatient. He only stood to the animal peoples’ hips. What Erek had though was eight feet, was actually ten or eleven.The wolf rubbed his head and continued talking. That human was a pet.   
What the hell kind of planet is this?  
Erek crouched back down in the corner of the trunk, suddenly very afraid. There were humans on this planet. But they were more like dogs.   
Where were these people taking him?   
After what seemed like another half an hour, the car stopped, and started backing up. It stopped again, and the engine turned off. Doors slammed.   
Nows the time. Erek got ready to pounce. He would attack, and run as fast as his legs could carry him.   
He heard voices. Someone else had joined the two dogs, another female. He heard a click and tensed, getting ready.  
The trunk door lifted and Erek jumped-  
Straight into a large metal box. He hit his face on the back of it and turned around, only to have metal bars slammed downwards in his face. The bars were latched and the two dogs waved goodbye, giving smiles.   
Those fuckers had tricked him into jumping straight into a crate!   
“You bastards!” He shouted at them, slamming his hands into the cage door. It was a fucking huge crate. Not big enough for him to stand, but big enough to comfortably sit or lie down. The crate was on a cart of some kind. He was turned around and wheeled into a building. He tried to unlock the cage door but his fingers couldn't reach it. He was being wheeled down a hall. He looked out the holes in the side and saw rooms, but only for quick glances. More animal people were walking about, wearing scrubs of varying colors and patterns. Were they doctors?   
They went through a door and Erek was suddenly very afraid.  
It was a kennel. There were humans in cages, doing various things. Thankfully, they all wore clothes, all in the same scrubs. They looked at him with interest, curious about the crate.   
They stopped in front of a cage, and the chain-link door opened. It had a large, fluffy pillow, a ball, and a blanket. He was wheeled up to the opening, and the crate door was unlatched and slid upwards.   
There was no way he was going in there.   
He slid to the very back of the crate, and curled up. He was not going to play this ga-  
He was suddenly shoved forward, the back of the crate pushing inwards and forcing him into the cage. When he was completely out, the crate was wheeled away and the cage was shut and locked. A leopard woman smiled at him and then left.   
He slammed his hands onto the door, rattling it. It wiggled, but not enough. The lock was on the top, too high for him to reach. Further inspection revealed that the tops of the cages were covered, so climbing out wasn't an option. The cages were separated by tiled walls, and the only other humans he could see were the ones across from him, who were looking at him curiously.   
Erek grabbed the fence and started climbing. When he reached the top, he shoved his fingers through and tried to find the lock. Almost….he bit his lip and shoved his hand through even more, reaching...got it. He pulled the lock open and pulled his hand back through as the door swung open.   
Jumping down, he crouched low, looking around the kennel. The other humans were riling up, getting agitated. They jumped to their feet and started calling out, speaking...Latin? Ereks brows drew down. He knew that language, had taken three classes on it. He shook his head, clearing it. He couldn't focus on them, he just needed to escape.   
He wondered if he should be worried about all the noise they were making. No, this was a kennel, they should be used to the noise of the humans.   
He ran down the hall of cages, rounding a corner and spotted a door. The doors in this place were huge, he had to reach up to grab the handle. The door swung open, and he peeked into the hall. There was no one around. Slowly, he crept out, silently shutting the door behind him. No sound. Slowly, very slowly, he tip toed down the hallway, listening closely for any sound.   
He passed room after room, not having the first clue where the exit was.   
He peered around a corner and saw another kennel, this with much more active humans, and animal people looking around. There was a cub giggling and talking to its mother, a big snow leopard. Her tail hung low, wrapping around her feet where she stood. She was smiling down at him. There was also a pitbull peering into one of the cages. His ears were cropped, and Erek wondered if that was this planets version of a punk look.   
He shook his head again. He needed to be focused. His adrenaline wasn't going to last forever and soon his exhaustion, hunger and dehydration would catch up with him.  
He reevaluated. He couldn't go that way, too many people. He had to backtrack. He turned around and saw an arctic fox looking through papers on a clipboard, busy in his work. Erek had to make a split-second decision. If he ran past the kennel, there were a bunch of people that could catch him. If he ran past the one distracted animal-person, he stood a good chance of getting away.   
Erek bolted, sprinting down the hallway and past the fox as fast as his legs could carry him. The fox gave a shout, and then started chasing after him. Erek put all of his strength into his legs and skidded around a corner, bursting back into a sprint. He flew past another animal-person, the leopard from before, and dodged a pair of furred hands. He was actually making good headway past them, and found a door at the end of a hallway. It was glassed and he saw the outside. He just needed to make it to that door.   
He pumped his arms, thankful for the year he had run cross-country. Almost...there… He was going to make it-  
He felt something grab his shirt and he was jerked backwards, and lifted into the air. He squirmed and wriggled, trying to get out of his shirt, but it wasn't working. Panting, he stilled, hanging there. A cheetah held him, the...male setting him on his feet, but keeping a grip on the back of Ereks shirt. He was talking to the others, the fox and the leopard. After a few seconds, the cheetah lifted Erek again, this time pressing Ereks back to his chest and pinning him there with one arm. Erek tried to fight against the animal-person, but his adrenaline had left him. He was tired, and very hungry. He panted, starting to feel a bit dizzy. Oh yeah, his adrenaline was long-gone.   
He had no choice but to submit to whatever they had planned.

Erek sat with his back against the metal wall, in the corner. He was muzzled, and his hands were bound in leather mittens.  
Of course, that happened when you escaped from a kennel three times in one day.   
And bit one of the animal people.  
Fucking Christ, they're gonna put me to sleep. He'd fucked up and he knew it. He'd been moved to a different cage with each break-out.   
First, they'd put him in a different cage in the same kennel. Once they'd figured out he knew how to unlock it, they were going to put him in a smaller metal cage on the other side of the building, and he'd panicked and bitten down on the cheetah. So they'd muzzled and mitted him.  
Erek wanted to be angry, but he was just too tired. He'd been here for hours and still hadn't gotten food or water, and he was fighting sleep. If he slept now he might not wake up.   
A door opened, and footsteps sounded. They stopped near him, and Erek lifted his head. The Arctic fox from earlier was crouched down, looking at him and smiling. He spoke gently, making eye contact with Erek. He opened the cage and gestured for Erek to come out. He didn't have the energy, so he just rested his head against one of the walls.   
The smell of food suddenly hit him, and he perked up. The fox made some more gestures, and eventually Erek crawled towards the door, looking around sleepily. The fox picked up a bowl and a syringe, sitting cross-legged on the floor. He set the bowl on the floor and wrapped a hand around Ereks chest, gently lifting him and placing him in his lap.   
The fox took hold of Ereks jaw and took off the muzzle, still holding firmly onto him. He filled the syringe with what was in the bowl, some kind of orange liquid, and stuck it against Ereks mouth.   
Erek fought, trying to shove the white hands away, but they held firm. The fox forced the syringe into Ereks mouth and started pushing the plunger. Erek had no choice but to swallow, though he continued to fight. The stuff didn't taste all that bad, but he didn't trust them.   
The fox kept force-feeding him, refilling and emptying the syringe until the bowl was empty. By the end of it, Ereks stomach felt full and he was exhausted. He'd expelled the last if his energy trying to fight, which had been futile and didn't really have a point.   
The fox put some blankets and pillows in the small cage, and then put Erek’s muzzle back on, before setting him back in the cage, placing a pillow under his head. He pet Ereks head a bit, and then closed and locked the cage door, attaching what looked like a hamsters water bottle to the door of the cage, and walking out.  
Now much warmer, much more comfortable, and one hundred percent exhausted, Erek fell asleep quickly. 

Through the night, Erek’s stomach held the liquid food he'd been force-fed. He figured it must have contained some kind of medicine and raw protein. With sustenance in his system, he was more awake and more alert now. He could think rationally, and wasn't panicking. At the moment…   
He'd been watching the animal-people walk back and forth in front of his line of cages, some of them with humans. Some humans were carried, some were led on a leash, and some were carted in crates. It was strange to be on the receiving end of an animal welfare system.   
He'd taken to calling the animal-people furries. It seemed the most appropriate term for them.   
Through his studies discoveries, Erek drew the conclusion that this was an animal shelter for humans, which spelled trouble. This was going to go one of two ways for him. Either they deemed him unfit for adoption, and euthanized him, or they adopted him out to some furry to play loveable pet.   
Erek wasn't sure which was worse.   
The day passed and his stomach started growling again. Was he to go hungry again? Were they going to get his obedience by making food-dependent?   
You're already food-dependent.  
Oh. Right.   
Soon enough, however, the Arctic fox returned, carrying another bowl. He once again sat on the floor, opened Ereks cage, drug him out, and unmuzzled him. Just as he suspected, the syringe was shoved into his mouth, and that liquid was squirted into his mouth. It had the consistency of a thick milkshake, but he couldn't describe the taste. It just...wasn't all that bad. The fox held his head still, but Erik didn't fight this time, instead swallowing readily. It was like….chocolate strawberry-banana-mango, not too tangy but not too sweet. Once the bowl was gone, Erek licked his lips, swallowing the rest of what was in his mouth.   
The fox pet his head, ruffling his hair around a bit as he put the syringe in the bowl. He picked Erek up and set him back in the cage, this time without the muzzle. Good. Progress. Maybe they'd take off his mitts next.   
For the next week, it was syringe-feedings. By the end of it, Erek was readily opening his mouth and swallowing the liquid without a fight. The fox seemed to really like petting him, which was a strange feeling. But he'd grown to associate it with comfort. The fox rounded the corner, carrying the usual metal bowl, and opening the cage. Erek crawled out and sat cross-legged in front of the fox, opening his mouth and waiting. This time, instead of the syringe, it was a spoon, and the orange liquid had brown things mixed into it.   
The spoon was placed into his mouth, and Erek chewed the solid brown things. It was meat. The flavor added a variety, something finally different, and he eagerly opened his mouth for more. The fox couldn't feed him fast enough, but since he controlled the spoon, Erek was forced to eat slowly.   
When the bowl was finally empty, Erek was placed back into his cage. 

The process was slow, and he was starting to get frustrated. He was antsy, full of unused energy and boredom. They still hadn't taken off the damn mitts and he'd tried everything to get them off. Chewing just wasn't working, and now his teeth hurt. In two weeks, he'd upgraded to solid food, which was chunks of cooked meat, vegetables and fruits. The cooked fruit added a nice sweetness to the hearty meat and veggies. Now instead of hand-feeding him, the fox just put a bowl in the cage.   
He heard footsteps, and saw his old friend Mr. Fox. The cage door opened, and Mr. Fox slipped an orange leash over his head, dragging him out of the cage. Okay, this was new. Mr. Fox beckoned him to walk next to him, tugging on the leash a bit. Reluctantly, Erek followed, staying close to Mr. Fox's legs. He was led down various hallways, rounding corners and going through doors. Finally, they went through a door that led to long lines of kennels. Mr. Fox led him down the line, and Erek took to studying the humans he passed. They were humans of all kinds of colors and ethnicities, shapes and sizes, and even a few children, ranging from preteens to late teens. The younger children must have been in a separate area. They came to an empty kennel and Mr. Fox gently pushed Erek into it, slipped the leash over his head and closing the door. There were stone walls separating him from the other humans. Inside the space, there was a plush mattress with raised sides, a blanket and pillow, a ball, a food dish, a large hamster water bottle on the door, and a small door with a flap. Curious, Erek moved the magnetic flap and peered out. It led outside, to a grassy outdoor kennel. The sides were stone walls, like inside, and the back wall was a fence. There was a roof on it, offering shade. Erek closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He hadn't seen sunlight in two weeks. Beyond the fence, there was an open field surrounded by a large barbed wire fence. Beyond the fence were woods, and to the left was a highway. Erek went back inside and noticed a few more furries walking around, looking into the kennels with pleasant interest. They weren't dressed in scrubs, but pants and shirts.   
Ereks face paled and he ran back outside, slamming his mitted hand against the stone of the wall.   
He'd been put up for adoption.


End file.
